By Ismaila M.S.Naban
If all goes as planned by the Jokkolabs Banjul, about 200 girls would benefit from a four-day free training workshop on coding, to be held from 22nd to 25th October, 2019.
The workshop, as could be deduced from the press release issued by the Francess Cowan, Communications Officer of The Gambia YMCAs Computer Training Centre and Digital Studio, is part of celebrations marking the 2019 Africa Code Week in The Gambia, “by working towards bridging the gender gap in Technology”.
As per the information contained therein, in collaboration with the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MoBSE), “200 middle school girls from various government schools in The Gambia will meet at the YMCA Computer Training and Digital Studio for a four-day training in scratch coding application”.
Africa Code Week is seen an important event that works to instill digital literacy and coding skills in the young generation; and also build community capacity and drive sustainable learning across Africa.
According to the release, last year, Jokkolabs trained 100 teachers in coding to provide them with skills they could implement in their school curriculum.
“This year, we intentionally focus on girls to bridge the digital and gender divide. We want to create an opportunity for girls in the Gambia to grasp the concept of computational thinking and gain proficiency in coding. We want girls to have an equal job opportunity with the skills to match,” Poncelet O. Ileleji MBCS, Jokkolabs Banjul Coordinator, was quoted as saying.
Madam Tida Jatta-Jarjou, Director at the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, is reported saying: “This is a great opportunity for students, especially those who would not otherwise have access to learn and develop fluency in ICT literacy skills.”
Giving a synopsis of Jokkolabs Banjul, Cowan’s release indicated that, it’s part of The Gambia YMCAs Computer Training Centre and Digital Studio.
“It is an incubator hub and creative space to help start-ups, individuals and businesses develop their full potential. As a multi-functional digital social innovation centre,
Jokkolabs Banjul aims to empower young people and the community through skills development and positive engagements; to support socio-economic developments,” as the release stated.
Below are facts about Africa Code Week, as contained in the press release:
4.1 + million young African introduced to coding since 2015
70,000+ free coding workshops organized since 2015
37 participating countries
An initiative by SAP
